Alva Review-Courier -

ALVA, Okla. – The second-half defense for the Rangers brought them back in the game, in a position to win but a deadly three from Jakeem Acres with 0.4 seconds left in the game sent the Tigers to home victorious Thursday night 67-65.

"I'm very proud of the way our guys competed tonight. We took a major step as a basketball team and really improved from the last time we hit the floor. Hats off to East Central for a great game," stated head coach Vinay Patel.

The Rangers' defense in the second half would hold the Tigers, who were averaging over 80 per game, to 29% and 67 points.

"If we can keep the same defensive intensity moving forward, we will find success this season. I thought we executed things much cleaner and played together on both ends of the floor. We will continue to work on us and find areas to improve," coach Patel stated after the game.

Northwestern falls to 2-3 on the season, 0-3 in GAC play. The Tigers improve to 4-4 on the season and in conference play.

Justin Blunt led the Red and Black with a double-double with 13 points, 10 rebounds. Parrish Hewitt led the Rangers in scoring with 15 points with seven rebounds and three assists. Bubba Furlong was the third and final double-digit scorer with 13 points on the night with six rebounds. This was the first game Furlong did not record a double-double on the season after foul trouble limited his minutes.

The opening minutes of Thursday's conference game was all about scoring, as it opened with a put-back slam dunk by Justin Blunt. After a few quick baskets by the Rangers' capitalized by a Hewitt 3-pointer, the Rangers took a 9-4 lead. East Central countered with a 7-2 run to even the score at 11. With the score even at 19-19 in the first half, the game took a turn to a defensive battle for most of the rest of the game. The final seven minutes of the opening half featured seven turnovers to close it out.

East Central opened their largest lead of the first half from the best scoring run of 7-0 to open a 35-29 lead at halftime from Jalen Crutchfield's foul shots. Each team would shoot well in the first half, the Tigers at 48.1% from the field. The Rangers were 46.7% on 14-30 shooting. Furlong led Northwestern with 10 points while Acres led ECU with seven along with Arnold.

Second Half

The opening minutes of the second half was an offensive struggle for the Rangers, as ECU opened their largest lead of the game at 47-34. NWOSU started their comeback from the charity stripe making seven straight points from the foul line to shrink the deficit to 47-41.

The Red-and-Black continued to battle, starting their comeback on the defensive end. The Rangers would hold the Tigers without a made field goal for the next six minutes. Much like Northwestern, East Central would survive at the foul line with seven straight from the line as well, to hold a 54-47 lead entering the final five minutes. A three-point play from Blunt brought the Rangers to within five. A Derrick White Jr. layup, followed by a Hewitt three, evened the score for the first time since the first half.

Peck would give the Rangers their first lead since the midway point of the first half from a layup as it was 59-58 with under two minutes to play after Jakeem Acres gave the Tigers the lead at 62-61.

White Jr. buried a triple to give the Rangers a 64-62 lead. The Tigers would go to the line to even the score at 64. Barrett drove to the lane, drew a foul and would go to the charity stripe to give Northwestern a 65-64 lead with seven seconds left. Acres of East Central would end the comeback win attempt by drilling a three in the final second of the game to give the Tigers a 67-65 victory in Percefull Fieldhouse.

Up Next

The Rangers were to return to action on Saturday afternoon as the team will travel to Durant to take on Southeastern following the Lady Rangers game.